The frog and the cow

No. 2 on the route
 

He croaked so loud, he croaked so hard,

yet he could not seduce a female.

So without a mate and with a sad heart

he jumped mournfully through the Middelsteeg meadows.

There he encountered a cow, stood slowly ruminating,

a grazer this large he had not often seen.

You got an idea and a spark of confidence:

could a frog also be big maybe?

'Why not,' said the cow. 'Just try to graze.'

But 't veg diet very quickly turned out to be a flop.

To that, the cow said, "Then try blowing.

why don't you pump yourself up a little?

The frog who then sucked his cheeks full of air

and croaked, "Say, am I big yet?

But the cow shook no, only heaved a sigh

and the frog kept blowing, its head turning red.

And on and on blew the frog, with even more power,

and the cow became concerned, he cried, "Stop, stop at once!

But it was already too late, and right before his eyes

exploded the frog, fell to pieces.

Inside herself, the cow said, after those bad things,

That it is better to remain what you already are.

'Imagine a cow croaking like a frog,

I think a bull would quickly run out of the pasture.

© Geurt Franzen

after a fable by Aesopus